Leaf-blown moments
by dieofthatroar
Summary: Fragile snapshots of life - conversations that may have not left a trace - except... [Each chapter is a oneshot, description inside. Will always be marked complete]
1. About Minato

_A/N: Different stories, different times, different characters. Not sure how many there will be..._

* * *

**A conversation that ****_must_**** have happened, at some point. Like seriously though. (Kakashi, Naruto, and Minato as the the proverbial elephant)**

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"What?"

"You knew this whole time. Why?"

"You know, you really have to be more specific. There are a lot of things I don't tell you."

"My dad. You always knew, but you didn't tell me."

Kakashi paused. He didn't think this would be the direction of the conversation when Naruto had asked to go to Ramen together, _for old times' sake_. They were supposed to talk shop, and maybe laugh about some of the antics of his genin missions. Light talk, not like this. "I did know. But knowing what you do now, do you think it would have been wise for me to tell you when you were younger?"

"But why-"

"You know what you were like as a kid. It would have been more dangerous for you to know. Also, it wasn't my place. You would have found out eventually and I think it was better the way it did happen."

"In the middle of a battle!?"

"From Minato himself."

"Fine, but you still didn't tell me anything, even after Pein."

"Tell you what?"

"That he was your sensei."

"He was." He chewed the inside of his cheek, buried under his mask. "But why would you want to know that?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "You could have told me about him. What he was like when he was alive. You _knew_ how much I wanted that."

Kakashi stared into his half empty glass of water, wishing that they had gone to a pub instead of this restaurant. "I…" He shook his head. "There are a lot of reasons I didn't tell you about him. Some of them are because you were too young, but some of them, I admit, were because I wasn't ready to talk."

"Tell me about him now."

"What do you want to know? He was dutiful, brave, and incredibly strong. There's a reason he was Hokage so young."

Naruto shook his head. "Tell me who he was to _you._ Anyone can tell me about the Fourth. I want to know about my dad."

"This is exactly why I've been avoiding this," Kakashi sighed. "I know you know who my father was." Naruto nodded. "And you know what happened to him." Naruto shifted his body a little, but nodded again. "I graduated from academy at a very young age, so I'm sure you can guess what Minato was to me."

"He was like a-"

"Don't say it," he interrupted, clutching his chopsticks slightly too tight. "It makes me sound terrible, doesn't it, to your eyes? Minato-sensei was everything to me when I was a kid. But when you were that age, when I could have returned the favor and looked out for you too, I was just like the rest of the village. I couldn't help but resent you, and so you grew up alone. I am so sorry…"

"You never looked at me like I was a monster though." Naruto said, more puzzled than angry. "I could always tell, when people saw me as just a container. You always saw me."

"You're right. I didn't stay away from you because of the Kyuubi."

"Then it was because my dad died?"

"He made a choice, Naruto. It was _his_ decision so I should be angry at him." Kakashi felt like he was fourteen again, confused and so utterly alone. "He chose to protect the village, of course, but he also chose you. He put his faith in you, his son."

"That's dumb"

"What?"

Naruto stared at his teacher with surprisingly clear eyes. "You're stupid if you think he seriously chose me over you. If he really was who you think he was, he wouldn't abandon you if he could help it."

"But I abandoned _you_. Minato-sensei would have never- but I just couldn't. I will never be like he was…"

"But look at you now!" Naruto said grinning. "You're Hokage! Don't you think dad would've been proud?"

"He wouldn't – I'm sorry Naruto. I've failed you in a lot of ways as a teacher, but this is something that I really can never make up to you. Minato would never-"

"Oh, stop feeling like you messed up my whole life. You were there for me eventually, weren't you?"

Kakashi looked over his old student. Grown now, taller than him. "I'm not sure how much I really taught you."

"Ok, I have to admit you weren't the best sensei," Naruto snorted. "But you were there. You saw me."

"I did."

"Even if you didn't tell me about my dad."

"Naruto, we just went over this…"

"You didn't really tell me why. I still think I deserved to know."

"And I'm saying it wouldn't have been good for you."

"What does it matter if it wasn't _good_ for me?"

"-Naruto think-"

"It was the most obvious secret in the village."

"-Naruto-"

"It isn't like you could _forget_."

"Maybe I didn't tell you so you wouldn't know what you lost!" Kakashi took a breath and turned away quickly. He couldn't take back the words; force the echoing sound away like nothing happened. The glass of water suddenly became interesting enough to warrant his full attention. He expected an outburst from Naruto. Like a cat's claws when it felt threatened, just a reaction. But his student surprised him when he answered quietly.

"Now I think I know why you paid so much attention to Sasuke when we were team seven. We never had the same sort of loneliness, did we?"

"Naruto I-"

"It's ok. I think I get it. Those years of me wondering who my parents were? I never actually _missed_ them… I only wanted what I thought was the idea of parents, something everyone else had. Or at least used to have… Maybe it would have been harder if I knew them."

"I'm sorry that I couldn't help you more." Kakashi swirled water around. "I'm sorry I didn't live up to expectation, live up to how I was taught. I should have been there, I could have done something…"

"Kakashi-sensei. Who are you apologizing to right now? Me or my dad?"

His heart hammered once in his chest and he thought for a moment before answering. "Both. I think."

Naruto just nodded.

"I can't tell you everything," Kakashi said slowly. "You have to understand. But I want to tell you about him. You deserve it… and so does he."

Naruto smiled, and Kakashi saw Minato in the younger man. Not in his hair, or in his build – not how others would see the Fourth. But in the glint in his eye when tilted his head at just that angle, and the curve of his lip. Maybe the way he could make it up to Minato, finally have his peace with his teacher, was through these interactions. It didn't have to be about shoving away those memories, but allowing them to exist. A different type of loneliness that didn't have to be so solitary.


	2. About Temari

_Something I wrote for Shikatema week, might as well put it here_

* * *

**Rumors... Or lack thereof (Shikamaru, Ino, and Temari now taking the role of elephant) **

Ino tapped her foot in quickly growing annoyance as she called across the training field. "Shikamaru… Are you listening? Shikamaru!" She rolled her eyes before running over to her teammate's side and punching him in the shoulder. "Oi, idiot. What are you doing?"

"Oh, sorry," he replied, shaking his head a little as if the motion would clear his thoughts. "Let's go again."

"Sorry? We are practicing this formation because I need to work on _my_ timing. How can we do that when _you_ keep messing up?"

He shrugged noncommittally, and fell back into a fighting stance. "Alright, alright."

With a huff, her hands landed on her hips as her glare turned from mildly displeased to icy.

"What?" He snapped. "I'm ready!"

"Uh, Shikamaru?" Chouji said nervously, glancing nervously between his two friends. "We're doing formation E…"

Shikamaru looked at his hands forming the seal, as if they betrayed him. He dropped them to his side as he let out a frustrated growl.

"What the hell is wrong with you today?" Ino asked, fuming. "We're going to die on our next mission if _Chouji_ is more on top of it than you are… no offense."

"I know," Chouji replied with a forgiving wave of his hand. "Not my strength."

"It's nothing, alright?" Shikamaru said. "I just had a long night at Intelligence, and didn't get any sleep. That on top of wrapping up things from Suna's visit last week-" The corner of his mouth twitched like it did when he was in the middle of solving a puzzle, although Ino didn't think he even noticed he did it. "Don't worry about me."

"Oh, I'm not worried about _you_," she replied. "I'm worried about me and Chouji being out in the open the next time you decide to take a mental nap in the middle of a battle."

Shikamaru scowled back at her, but it didn't have the defiance it normally did, and it struck her as odd. Ino was lying to herself if she didn't think something was wrong - she was more worried about him. But she wouldn't say anything, at least not yet.

* * *

With the chuunin exams approaching again, Shikamaru was disappearing more often to tend to his duties, leaving Ino and Chouji alone to train together. While she was proud of her teammate and the responsibilities he was trusted with, she also missed him being around all the time – being there for her too. It made her feel a pang for Sakura, noting how hard it must be for her, even after Naruto returned.

Ino wondered if it was the stress of his job that had taken a toll on Shikamaru's concentration. Even when they were just out to barbeque together, he was short tempered and gloomy. She wanted to reach out to him, but she was afraid of his reaction. Whenever she voiced her concern, all he heard was nagging. His stubbornness was levels above even hers, and she knew she would only be adding to his irritation.

It was one of those weeks that he was gone completely, when the delegation from Suna came around again, that she finally figured it out. Ino could never understand his dedication to what really amounted to glorified guard-dog duty – following the Kazekage's sister around. He always mumbled complaints about it before and after, but in that week she never heard a single thing from him.

It was an off-chance event, just walking into the village marketplace to buy some groceries, when he heard the low drawl she could recognize anywhere. She spotted him by his ponytail, moving in the other direction in the crowd with Temari by his side. She wanted to lift her hand to wave him over, but she stopped herself, intrigued by the sight before her.

Shikamaru looked completely different, as if she had just imagined the grumpy teenager that hung around and messed up their training sessions. This Shikamaru talked excitedly with his hands, pointing at unseen objects in the market stands. He laughed at things the girl said, things that Ino was too far away to hear, and seemed to respond with words that made her laugh as well. It reminded her of when they were kids – when they were just _playing_ ninja in the Nara clan woods. When he would tease her, and she wouldn't get mad, because he did it with that smile that told her that it was all for fun. A kind of lighthearted grin that took up his whole face, with just a touch of mischief at the corners of his mouth because, of course, it was Shikamaru. A time before that grin had turned sour when he had learned what a real ninja's life was about.

She hasn't seen his eyes light up like that since Asuma died.

It was a smile that she couldn't coax from him now, no matter how hard she tried, and it made her a bit sad that someone else could so easily. Shikamaru was as close as anyone could be to her, and yet, she was watching from the outside as someone else made him happy – someone who didn't know how extraordinary those smiles were. While part of her still wanted to rush over and bask in the rare joy of her best friend, she didn't allow herself to interfere.

She stepped back into the crowd, and watched Shikamaru and the girl disappear into color and confusion of the market.

* * *

"Tea?" Shikamaru asked, as he sank into his seat across from Ino.

"I thought it was a little more dignified than barbeque."

"Where's Chouji?" he said, looking about as if he would find him just around the corner.

"He's not coming. Or else we wouldn't have gotten away with just tea."

"Why? I don't think he had anything to do today…"

"I just invited you," Ino said, face set. "I wanted to talk to you."

Shikamaru shifted nervously in his seat. "About?" he asked slowly.

"Temari"

"The Suna ambassador Temari?" Shikamaru asked, confused.

Ino laughed. "Do we know any other Temari's?" He didn't seem to find it as amusing.

"What about her?"

"Not just about her. About you. And her."

Shikamaru shifted again, studying his hands because the tea hadn't come yet and there was nothing else to divert his attention. "I don't know what you mean."

Ino laughed again, slightly more forced. "Everyone tells you you're a genius, so it gets to your head. But you aren't the only one with any intelligence around, you know. With things like this, I think I might be a bit better than you, especially when I've known you for so long. How do you think you could hide that from me?"

"I still don't know-"

"Oh man, you're hopeless. You like her!" Ino said poking his chest. "I've seen you two together, what, twice? And it was obvious from just that. So _please_ don't argue with me because what are you going to gain from it? Don't lie to a teammate."

Shikamaru frowned. "So what if I do? It isn't like it matters."

"It _does!_" Ino replied. "Of course it does. You're been a pain in the ass these past few months, and I've been trying to find out why."

He growled. "So you just want me to stop bothering you, is that it?"

Ino's eyes narrowed. "Do you really think that low of me?"

Shikamaru glanced up at her with slight surprise, and shook his head. "No, of course not."

"And before you warn me, I know, I'm not going to tell anyone." He gave her a face. "Yes, I am capable of that. We've been worried about you, that's all. We thought you were just overworking yourself. To be honest I never thought it would be something like this," she smiled, and reached for his hand. "It isn't anything to be ashamed of, you know. Stop trying to fight it."

"It's affecting my work," he answered, exhaling slowly, but accepting the familiar touch. "And you two, and-"

"Only because you're thinking too much. Very typical. You just need to let go sometimes. It'll make you crazy if you don't."

"And you suggest I stop thinking?"

She swiped the hair out of her eyes, and smirked. "You can talk to me about it, you know I like this kind of stuff. And-" She sighed. "And you should enjoy it, ok? You deserve it."

Shikamaru's eyes softened a fraction, as he took a moment to mull over her words. "Thanks, Ino."

"You know," Ino said after the tea had arrived at their table. "The way she looked at you - and remember I'm good at these things - I think Temari likes you too."

Shikamaru tried to hide his tentative smile behind his cup, but of course Ino could still spot it. She still knew him best, after all.


End file.
